Leading shipping lines keep off the Red sea shipping channel following series of drone attacks

French container shipping line CMA CGM Group has ordered all its vessels scheduled to pass through the Red Sea to "pause their journey in safe waters with immediate effect until further notice. This is the second major shipping line to restrict movement of vessels in the Red Sea Shipping channel in the last 48 hours even as Houthi rebels stepped drone attack on ships passing through that route

Maersk, the world's biggest shipping company, also told all its vessels planning to pass through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea to stop their journeys after a missile attack on a Liberian-flagged cargo ship. German-based shipper Hapag-Lloyd said it was pausing all of its container ship traffic through the Red Sea until Monday

Even as the drone attacks on ships passing through the Red Sea shipping channel, a US warship shot down 14 suspected attack drones over the Red Sea on Saturday, and a Royal Navy destroyer downed another drone that was targeting commercial ships, the British and American militaries said.

Houthi rebels in Yemen have launched a series of attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, one of the world's busiest shipping routes, and have launched drones and missiles targeting Israel, as the Israel-Hamas war threatens to spread.

U.S. Central Command said that the destroyer USS Carney "successfully engaged 14 unmanned aerial systems" launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. The drones "were shot down with no damage to ships in the area or reported injuries," Central Command tweeted.

Global shipping has become a target during the war between Israel and Hamas, which like the Houthis is backed by Iran.

Israeli-linked vessels also have been targeted, but the threat to trade has grown as container ships and oil tankers flagged to countries like Norway and Liberia have been attacked or drawn missile fire while traversing the waterway between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

Earlier this month, three commercial ships in the Red Sea were struck by ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled Yemen. A U.S. warship shot down three drones during the assault, the U.S. military said.